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Tuesday, February 4

4th Circuit allows North Carolina election challenge to proceed in state court for now
* The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled ([link removed]) today that a district court correctly sent back to state court a lawsuit from GOP North Carolina Supreme Court candidate Jefferson Griffin contesting his 2024 election loss to incumbent Democratic Justice Allison Riggs.

* Certification of Riggs’ electoral victory over Griffin — which was confirmed by two separate recounts — remains on hold due to a Jan. 7 order from the North Carolina Supreme Court’s Republican majority.
* However, the 4th Circuit added that if the federal legal issues raised in the case are still outstanding after litigation plays out in North Carolina state courts, then the lawsuit may return to federal court for further proceedings.

Right-wing challenge to Maryland election administration gets dismissed

* The 4th Circuit dismissed ([link removed]) a lawsuit today filed by right-wing groups that accused Maryland of maintaining inaccurate voter rolls and using faulty voting machines. The court ruled that the groups — Maryland Election Integrity and United Sovereign Americans — lacked standing.

RNC asks SCOTUS to restrict provisional voting in Pennsylvania

* Using the radical independent state legislature theory, the Republican National Committee asked ([link removed]) the U.S. Supreme Court to reverse a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision that allows voters to cast provisional ballots if their mail-in ballots were rejected.

Audit of Arizona data error exposes history of issues tracking voter eligibility
* An Arizona audit found ([link removed]) data errors in the state's election system put over 218,000 voters' eligibility in jeopardy shortly before the 2024 elections. The issue, known to election officials since 2016, was only recently addressed.

The coming attack on free and fair elections
* President Donald Trump used the last four years to turn the GOP into an anti-democratic war machine — and he is not finished. If we are to preserve democracy, we must take the threat Trump poses to our elections literally and seriously, Marc wrote ([link removed]) in a new piece.

THE OPPOSITION

Holding Trump Accountable

FBI agents sue to block DOJ from creating list of staff who worked on Trump cases

* FBI agents and employees filed ([link removed]) two lawsuits today to block the U.S. Department of Justice from collecting and distributing a list of those who worked on Trump-related cases. These include investigations into criminal activity Jan. 6, 2021 and Trump’s classified documents case at Mar-a-Lago.
* The nine agents who filed a class action lawsuit said they represent at least 6,000 current and former FBI employees “who participated in some manner in the investigation and prosecution of crimes and abuses of power by Trump, or by those acting at his behest.”
* The FBI Agents Association, along with several FBI employees, filed a similar lawsuit, asking the court to stop the U.S. government from “any further collection or dissemination of personally identifiable information of [the] Plaintiffs and other similarly situated persons.”

Lawsuit filed over memo pressuring federal government employees to resign

* Unions representing federal government employees sued ([link removed]) the Office of Personnel Management today over the “Fork in the Road Directive” that gives them the option to resign by Thursday or stay employed and risk being terminated as Trump restructures and reduces the size of agencies.
* The plaintiffs argued the directive violates the Administrative Procedure Act as it “aims to entice federal employees to relinquish their livelihoods on the basis of barely-veiled threats of future termination.”

Hearing coming up tomorrow in birthright citizenship lawsuit

* A federal court in Maryland will hold a hearing in a lawsuit challenging ([link removed]) Trump's executive order ending birthright citizenship for children born in the United States to some noncitizen parents. Civil rights groups argue that the order violates the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

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